PCA&D Gallery welcomes ‘Monologues of Being Seen’ exhibition

The Main Gallery at Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCA&D) is excited to announce the  return of artists Andrea N. Baldwin, Sangyoon Lee, and Heidi Henderson with Monologues of Being Seen, an exhibition opening Friday, October 18, with a reception from 5-8 pm. 

The group of artists visited PCA&D during the Spring 2024 semester, hosting an talk about the project and accompanying workshops involving movement and 3-D scanning. Students, staff, and faculty who participated in the scanning will be represented in the show in miniature, along with hundreds of other participants from the past decade. This multimedia, interactive exhibition prompts viewers to think about perception individually and collectively.

“In order to authentically tell the story of Monologues of Being Seen, visitors need an introduction to the individuals and project history,” says Alex Schaufele, PCA&D Director of Exhibitions. “In the multi-level PCA&D Gallery, there will be portraits of 126 participants, three-channel videos exploring posture, and interactive storytelling. This powerful work shows the connection between individual experiences over time and distance.”

According to Andrea N. Baldwin, one of the trio of artists whose work is featured in Monologues of Being Seen, the PCA&D exhibition “is an interactive media installation and interdisciplinary project which examines how bodies have historically been created/made through scientific interventions and surveillance while simultaneously engaging with the concept of inclusivity of all bodies including those traditionally seen as “Other.” The project traces the development of healthism – the reinforcement of certain norms that construct the “healthy” as moral and pure and the “unhealthy” as foreign and polluted – in the modern American university which dates back to the early 17th century, and its relationship to the U.S. eugenics movement in the late 19th to 20th century.” 

In an artist statement, Baldwin continues, “Posture portraits, taken at colleges and universities across the nation during the 1920s-1960s, were used as a measurement of ability and good posture, which at that time, was linked to intelligence, beauty, and what it meant to be ‘normal.’ … This installation confronts the enduring, oppressive effects of historical practices on marginalized bodies on today’s society, where people frequently feel compelled to hide or reshape themselves to fit societal expectations. By creating a space where these individuals can be seen authentically and share their own narratives, the project challenges these norms and affirms their right to tell their own stories.”

Through December 15, in the College’s Main Gallery.